Meetings can be a colossal waste of time, but in some rare cases they're actually necessary to get something done. The key is to make sure that before you schedule or propose a meeting that you're doing it for the right reasons.

Before you waste time in a meeting (or everyone else's time by scheduling one), PayScale suggests you make sure your meeting is specifically to make a decision based on information you have, to share information that's better communicated face-to-face and not over email, or to brainstorm with a group of people. In every case, they note you should make sure the right people are in the room.